Honeymoon in Knoxville

Darn shame, this.

Things that make this Dawg fan go hmmm…

The #NotreDame O-Line wins the 2017 Joe Moore Award Winner for the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit in College Football… I know some Michigan State and USC staffers who would probably agree with this.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 19, 2017

Hell, I hope it’s right, too.  So do Bellamy and Carter.

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This is easily my favorite recruiting story of the year.

Ohio State was forced to stop recruiting five-star defensive end Micah Parsons because he received the following improper benefit:

Parsons is unnamed in the self-reported violation records, due to FERPA protection, and is referred to as a “2018 prospective student-athlete.” But he is believed to be the recruit implicated in the report because he was photographed on the College GameDay set and retweeted pictures of him with former Ohio State quarterback and current College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit, former Ohio State running back and College GameDay celebrity guest picker Eddie George, and College GameDay analyst Lee Corso and host Rece Davis.

While on a campus tour led by football recruiting assistant Ed Terwilliger, the recruit met Herbstreit on the show’s set, took a photo with two College GameDay analysts who are not former Ohio State players — believed to be Corso and Davis — while sitting on-stage, and met George off the set, according to the records. Though recruits on official visits are able to speak with former student-athletes of the school they are visiting, they are not allowed to “have contact with members of the media associated with former student-athletes.”

“As such, a violation of NCAA Bylaws 13.10.1 and 13.10.2.4 occurred, as members of the media may not be present during an institution’s recruiting contact with a prospect and a prospect may not participate in team activities that would make the public or media aware of the prospect’s visit to the institution,” Ohio State’s self-violation report said.

According to the records, Terwilliger allowed the recruit and his parents to enter College GameDay’s production area in front of the set, which is inaccessible to the public. The group was then given credentials by a producer of the show.

Gawd, talk about getting hoisted on your own sanctimonious petard.  Or, to borrow a phrase, it appears Mark Richt has lost control of Kirk Herbstreit.

You’ve got to love the football gods’ sense of humor sometimes.

“This is a rare instance where Alabama is not at an advantage anymore.”

Compare these two stories about how Nick Saban and Kirby Smart are coping with the early signing period.  Is it just me, or does Kirby come off sounding like he’s the one doing the better job of handling the situation?

At the intersection of Natrez Patrick, the Rose Bowl and Georgia’s revised substance abuse policy

I’ve gotten a few emails in response to my posts on the above subjects and read a bunch of things from others this week about the same.  Georgia, it’s safe to say, finds itself in a unique situation due to some unusual timing, and maybe it’s worth going back to sort a few things out to determine what’s the best way to go forward, particularly in Patrick’s case.

Let’s start with the obvious.  Georgia’s draconian substance abuse policy was created by Michael Adams, who is neither a public safety nor a health expert.  Adams was and is a politician, a politician who in this case wanted to show the world that he was serious about doing something.  My feeling is that enforcing a zero tolerance policy generally does more harm than good and what Adams came up with was no exception to that rule of thumb.  It’s hard to see what he accomplished, other than to put Georgia athletics behind the eight ball compared with its conference peers, something that was acknowledged early on as McGarity tried more than once to lobby SEC schools to bring their own policies in line with Georgia.

From there, it’s worth your taking the time to read this Q&A Ron Courson had with the media yesterday on the subject of the school’s revised policy.  He fielded a lot of good, tough questions, like this opening exchange:

What was the need to revise the substance abuse policy?

Courson: “I think with anything, you want to take a look at any existing policy you have, and things change. One of the biggest things we’re looking, drug rehab and substance abuse issues, you need to look at from a medical standpoint. I think many times in the past it was looked at from a disciplinary standpoint. Substance abuse is a medical problem just like any other medical problem we see. A great example, 15 to 20 years ago, orthopedics looked a protocols. If you had an MCL or an ACL protocol, you followed it. What we found, both didn’t work very well. You tried to use a cookbook approach and you needed to individualize everything. So we tried to craft our substance-abuse policy the same way — is look at it on an individual basis from a problem-solving standpoint. Every case is different. Every student athlete is different. So we’re trying to use that same philosophy and look at it from a problem solving standpoint. That was the main reason in looking at the protocol.”

Why was it in the past that a legal citation counted as a positive test? I assume what your saying, Ron, is why you felt the need to change it, but why was that previous policy in place?

Courson: “We tried to be consistent with university policy as well. Our student-athletes are actually students at the university as well. The university has an existing alcohol and drug policy as well. So we tried to standardize that. That’s where the level one and level two came from. That language actually existed with the university policy.

Read that carefully, and there’s plenty to unpack.  Courson is someone for whom I have a great deal of respect, so when he says it was time to view the policy from a medical standpoint, and not a disciplinary one, I take him at his word.  (I also think that’s the proper approach, for what it’s worth.)  Inherent in that change of philosophy is a rebuke of Adams’ vision, although Courson tries to be careful to avoid a hard distinction with that second answer.

In any event, if the school is to look at Patrick in light of what’s best for him, medically speaking, rather than in terms of pure punishment, the specific question then becomes does it serve that goal best to let him play or not?

Jeff Schultz votes not.

That the nation has become desensitized to all matters involving marijuana use, rightly or wrongly, and that Georgia has a stricter anti-drug policy than most collegiate athletic departments should not be a part of this debate.

There are only two factors that need be considered here when it comes to whether Natrez Patrick plays another football game for Georgia this season:

1. The kid has a problem. Patrick, a junior inside linebacker, has been either arrested, tested positive or been present for six incidents involving marijuana use in less than three years at Georgia. He has done so despite a disciplinary action that included a four-game suspension this season and repeated warnings that persisting in drug use could lead to expulsion. There’s a saying about addicts: Even when they know what will happen when they take that first pill, drink or fix, they still do so. That’s the “insanity” of the illness.

2. If the Bulldogs look the other way and allow him to play in the Rose Bowl against Oklahoma, they effectively will be endorsing and enabling Patrick’s behavior — past, present and moving forward. They will be saying, “This football game is more important than the kid’s well-being.”

Now, before any of you start throwing the click-bait card down, I don’t believe that’s where Schultz is coming from.  He’s written movingly about dealing with a substance abuse problem in his own family.  So what I read here isn’t cynicism.  Quite the opposite; he’s impassioned, even to the point of righteous, albeit misplaced, anger.  (I mean,“But Healan is a defense attorney. He’s not paid to have a conscience or an ounce of moral fiber.”?  Seriously?)

So while I don’t question his sincerity, I do question some of his logical underpinnings.  For one thing, that Georgia has a stricter anti-drug policy than most collegiate athletic departments sure as hell should be a part of this debate.  Not because of competitive disadvantage, but because of the protocol’s structural flaw of which Courson spoke.  Punishing Patrick purely for punishment’s sake isn’t more important than the kid’s well-being, either.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I suspect Schultz is more invested in the second reason — how Georgia and Smart will look if Patrick is allowed to play in the Rose Bowl — than anything else.  What he’s arguing is that even if Courson finds that, purely from a medical standpoint, Patrick’s suspension from the program won’t have any positive impact on his rehabilitation, it doesn’t matter.  In other words, the punishment is the program’s own reward, regardless of the effect on the kid.  I have a hard time swallowing that.

Which brings me back around to where I’m at.  I think it boils down to this:

1. Natrez Patrick’s use of marijuana has been stupid, selfish and careless.  His suspensions have hurt his teammates and his coaches.
2. His use of marijuana also violated state law and school policy.  If Smart decides on that basis alone that Patrick shouldn’t be allowed to suit up against Oklahoma, he’ll hear nary a word of disagreement from me.
3. However, if the real issue now is Patrick’s well-being, then the ultimate arbiter of his fate isn’t me, Kirby Smart or Jeff Schultz.  It’s Ron Courson and Georgia’s medical staff.  Whichever way they decide, as long as it’s through an honest process without any pressure brought to bear by the coaching staff or other non-professionals in Butts-Mehre, I’m totally cool with their call.

I don’t have the first clue whether Natrez Patrick is a consummate dumbass or an addict.  Going back to my college days, I’ve known both types.  I had to help check a college buddy into a facility for substance abuse.  I also had plenty of college friends who used marijuana regularly but still managed to go to class, make good grades, graduate on time and go on to success in the business world and with their families.  Every case, every person, then, is different.  It’s Courson’s job to make an honest determination.  Let him do his job, if that’s how the school’s new substance abuse policy rolls.

I’m tired of empty gestures.  I’m tired of stupid gestures, such as surprise drug testing immediately following spring break.  Or the futile, feel good nonsense of taking pride in having a tougher drug policy than other schools for the mere satisfaction of occupying the moral high ground.  Or Jimmy Williamson taking it on himself to undermine a sensible amnesty policy enacted by the state legislature.

It shouldn’t be about making adults feel holier-than-thou.  It should be about making sure kids get the support they need when they do stupid things, which kind of goes with the territory.  If Patrick crossed a line where that help entails getting him off the field for good, so be it.  Just let that be an informed decision about his specific issues, not how we look at the school in the morning if he plays.

Okay, I’ll climb down off my moral soapbox now.

“Is it really important to dominate college football recruiting in your own state?”

Here are a couple of interesting charts from this David Ching piece about the importance of recruiting the home front:

David answers his question in the header by writing “… it depends”.  Certainly, it helps, it matters, but you can be successful even if you don’t get the bulk of your players from your home state.

Perhaps the biggest advantage a high level home state recruiting edge provides is for a more efficient use of a program’s resources.  It’s easier to cultivate local talent, because there’s a natural inclination for many recruits to stay home.  You also have the built-in advantages of cultivating the in-state high school coaches and having easier access to them.  Jeremy Pruitt, for example, is going to find it a lot harder to get those kids out of Georgia that he got while on Richt’s staff now that he’s wearing orange.  On the flip side, Kirby Smart’s access to Georgia’s wealth allows him the luxury of picking his spots when he goes out of state for certain recruits.

More, on Georgia’s early signing day

Andy Staples:

Feelings will be hurt on all sides this week, but at least coaches and players will know where everyone stands with a chance to regroup and make alternate plans for February. The coaches don’t like the new system because it forces them to try to secure a signing class while also preparing for bowl games and playoff games. They also don’t like it because it will force them in some cases to prove that an offer is real and not simply code for “we’ll take this defensive end if the defensive end we really want doesn’t flip to us from our rival.” Players who chose their schools long ago and simply want to be done with the recruiting process—this is most players, by the way—will love being able to sign and enjoy the remainder of the holiday season with the knowledge that their spots are secure. Players who enjoy being courted incessantly by schools may want to stretch their recruitments into February, but if they’ve already committed somewhere, they run the risk of having an offer pulled if they don’t sign with the school to which they proffered said commitment. And that makes perfect sense. If you claim you’re committed and you don’t sign the NLI the school sends you, are you really committed? Of course not. The coaching staff probably should pull the offer in that case.

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said last week he will evaluate any such situations on a “case-by-case” basis. This is wise. Some players might be good enough to be worth waiting for until February. Others might be easily replaced by another player who wants to sign right now. Players, meanwhile, will need to evaluate their situations carefully before they turn down a bird in the hand. A player with 40 Power 5 offers can afford to prolong the recruiting process. He has leverage. A player with two Power 5 offers probably is better off signing now. The key for recruits and for coaches is to be brutally honest with themselves about where they or their programs stand in the pecking order. Any overestimation of one’s place in the world could result in a lost scholarship or a lost player.

There are plenty of other situations that coaches and administrators are watching closely this week because no one knows exactly how the process will play out.

Andy doesn’t mention it specifically, but I think one of those situations would be a recruit’s shaky academics.  If I’m not mistaken, if you let a player sign this week, but he winds up not qualifying, he still counts against your numbers.  If that’s right, I can’t imagine there’s a coach out there facing that who wouldn’t tell a kid who wants to sign in December his decision would have to be postponed until February.

So, with all that in mind, be ready to match Jeff Sentell’s list of those whom he projects to sign this week against the group that officially puts pen to paper.

UGA’s commits who plan to sign this week

(ratings from the 247Sports Composite)

• Jake Camarda/Norcross, Ga./3-star/nation’s No. 8 kicker
• Owen Condon/Oklahoma City,/3-star/nation’s No. 37 offensive tackle/No. 476 overall
• James Cook/Miami/4-star/Nation’s no. 3 running back/No. 31 overall
• Jordan Davis/Charlotte, N.C./3-star/nation’s No. 28 defensive tackle/No. 403 overall
• Warren Ericson/Suwanee, Ga./4-star/nation’s No. 5 center/No. 267 overall
• Justin Fields/Kennesaw, Ga./5-star/nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback/No. 2 overall
• John FitzPatrick/Atlanta/4-star/nation’s No. 16 tight end/No. 342 overall
• Trey Hill/Warner Robins, Ga./4-star/nation’s No. 2 offensive guard/No. 38 overall
• Kearis Jackson/Fort Valley, Ga./4-star/nation’s No. 22 wide receiver/No. 117 overall
• Azeez Ojulari/Marietta, Ga./4-star/nation’s No. 8 weakside defensive end/No. 133 overall
• Chris Smith II/Atlanta/4-star/nation’s No. 30 cornerback/No. 295 overall
• Zamir White/Laurinburg, N.C./5-star/nation’s No. 1 running back/No. 6 overall
• Devonte Wyatt/Decatur, Ga./4-star/nation’s No. 3 defensive tackle (JUCO)/No. 7 overall (JUCO)

Bottom line so far: 13 of Georgia’s 18 current commits.

He mentions a few others straddling the fence.  Given Kirby’s mastery of roster management, you’d have to think the group allowed to sign this week will say volumes about how the rest of Georgia’s 2018 class will shape up.

Today, in golden parachutes

Jay Jacobs is hightailing out of Auburn with a lot left hanging on his plate:

Jacobs announced his pending retirement Nov. 3 amid scandals within the softball program, basketball program and a federal lawsuit involving a former track employee. Basketball assistant coach Chuck Person was fired in October following his arrest on six federal bribery and fraud charges in which he allegedly funneled money to the families of players Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley. Both players have yet to play a game this season for Auburn and their status for the remainder of the season is unknown.

The softball program was rocked by sexual misconduct allegations, which led to Auburn banning assistant Corey Myers from campus two days before his father, Clint Myers, announced his retirement as head coach in August.

For ordinary mortals in a normal job setting, with a legacy like that, you’d be lucky to leave with the clothes on your back.  Neither of those qualifiers appears to apply to Jacobs, though.

Jay Jacobs will never have to worry about money during his lifetime.

The Auburn athletics director, thanks to 30-plus years in the state retirement system, will be paid $540,000 a year in state retirement money when his tenure with the university ends, according to the Florence Times Daily.

The enormous retirement payments have been labeled a “super outlier” by Retirement Systems of Alabama deputy director Don Yancey.

Jacobs will be paid at least $45,000 per month, according to the report.

Jacobs won’t have to worry about money and Auburn won’t have to worry about finding the money to pay him.  Thanks, taxpayers of Alabama!  You’re a generous bunch.

As we like to say around these parts, nice work if you can get it.

If we fans are pinching ourselves over Georgia’s appearance in the Rose Bowl…

… imagine what the players must be feeling.

So it has been multiple generations since the Bulldogs played in the Rose Bowl. In more recent history, they haven’t played in a premier bowl game in a decade. The other three playoff teams this season — Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma — have all appeared in the playoff at least once in its three-year history. Meanwhile, Georgia’s bowl destinations the past three seasons have been pedestrian: the Belk Bowl, the TaxSlayer Bowl and the Liberty Bowl.

“It’s a little hard to believe, but the guys that were here, we realized how far we’ve come,” senior outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter said. “It gives us the motivation to come out and work. We have chances to play for a championship and not just the Liberty Bowl.”

This time last year, few, if any, outside of Athens cared about the 7-5 Bulldogs heading to the Liberty Bowl. The only thing at stake was adding to the win column. A loss really didn’t matter. Georgia’s players went to Memphis, Tennessee, to have fun, eat ribs and play a football game. It was more of a vacation than a business trip.

That’s not the case this year, not with what can still be achieved.

“We’re there for one mission and for one mission only,” senior running back Sony Michel said. “That’s to win a football game and get back to the East Coast.”

I appreciate the stated attitude, but it’s still got to be a little surreal for guys like Carter and Michel.

That being said, and with apologies to Bobby Petrino, if the Dawgs win in Pasadena, I’ve got dibs on trademarking “We didn’t come to eat ribs”.

“There’s a big gap between a need and a want.”

USA Today has another college football haves and have-nots story that doesn’t really break much new ground, other than offer a little more emphasis on what the haves… um, have.

Colorado State’s athletic revenue was just under $40 million, which ranks in the top half of the Mountain West but is still $18 million less than Washington State, which ranked last among the Power Five’s public schools.

Twenty-eight Power Five schools reported athletic revenue of more than $100 million, with Texas A&M leading the way at nearly $195 million. Each of the Power Five conferences made payouts to their members ranging between from $42 million in the Southeastern Conference to about $29 million in the Pac-12.

The College Football Playoff distributed at least $60 million to each Power Five conference last season , with the Big Ten netting $70.9 million.

If you’re in a P5 conference, you ain’t starving.  Washington State, mentioned above, just gave Mike Leach a five-year contract extension worth about $20 million.

They’re rolling in it, peeps.  Those waterfalls and $10,000 lockers aren’t paying for themselves.